


a full on rainstorm

by aceofdiamonds



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 12:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9182242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofdiamonds/pseuds/aceofdiamonds
Summary: after the battle with gaea percy leaves and nico lives his life through postcardsHe sticks the postcard on the wall beside his bed, allowing himself to smile at the thought of Percy crouched over the hood of a bent up car on a long stretch of road scribbling down whatever came to me. are you missing me? Nico doesn't know how truthfully to answer that even to himself. His heart is tired and his eyes still look for Percy when he first steps out of his cabin every morning and how do you put the way his blood feels like water, controlled by the son of a sea god halfway across the country, into words.





	

**Author's Note:**

> one of my 2017 resolutions is to either finish everything i have in my gdocs or post it anyway, in whatever state it's in. this has been sitting around forever and i don't write percy/nico anymore, my mind is blank on how to wrap it up, but it's 6000 words and i don't want them sitting around anymore. maybe i'll finish it one day. takes place pretty much straightafter heroes of olympus but i've aged nico up a couple of years. i started writing this way before blood of olympus. came out so take that into account. there’s connor/nico? it caught me by surprise. this was supposed to be a percy and nico love story of sorts. title is from sparks fly by t swift
> 
> i've never posted anything unfinished before so if this is clunky i'm sorry

 

 

The thing about Percy is that you get used to him when he's around long enough. Actually, you get used to him after being around for him a few minutes. Extended contact leads to attachment.

The war ends on a Thursday. Two weeks later Percy is gone. 

He stays long enough to clean up, of course. Stays to comfort the wounded and mourn the lost and thank the support, because he's Percy Jackson: saviour of the world, no matter what he says about the Seven and that they all helped _equally, guys_ , he didn't actually even do much in the end, his reputation precedes him, and that's what he does.

So he doesn't disappear into thin air. He packs his rucksack carefully, hugs his mom goodbye, and stops off at Camp for one last round of sparring, because, again, that's something Percy Jackson does. The kids love him, treat him like some sort of celebrity with their big round eyes full of awe and their makeshift Riptides dangling at their sides. Nico used to look at him like that until he grew up too quickly and hid the looks behind scathing words and pretend forgetfulness, because that's growing up, kids. 

Nico is still at camp. He doesn't really have anywhere else to go so why not, right? He has a cabin now, lucky Cabin 13, and it's decked out in black and the bed is huge and so comfy so why would he pass this up (It's lonely, too. It makes the Bianca shaped hole inside of him ache more and more, but the bed is really comfy and he has peace to read his comics so, silver lining).

"Nico!" Nico spins on the spot to see Percy walking towards him across the arena. Mrs O'Leary barks loudly and bounds across to Percy, the ground shaking beneath their feet. She paws at his torso and he goes down with a laugh, shouting when her tongue coats him in saliva. "Hey, girl!"

"Did you come here to talk to me or the dog?" Nico asks, twirling the giant stick in his hands. He taps it on the ground until Mrs O'Leary backs away from Percy and turns her huge red eyes on Nico, barking until he throws it as far as he can across the playing field which, um, which isn't that far. 

Percy gets to his feet, shaking his head and oh, he's dry. Yeah Nico can travel through shadows but Percy can dry instantly, who has the better powers really. "You, obviously. I needed some sunshine in my life." 

"Fuck off. Wait, I heard you were doing that anyway." He's handling the whole thing very well, he thinks. It's just -- He has friends at the camp, sure, but none of them come close to Percy and Nico's going to miss him okay. That's it out. "I'm not going to miss you."

Percy barks a laugh and when Nico looks up his eyes are shining and that perfect shade of green. He pretends to shove Percy's arm off when it drops around his shoulders but he leans in, his head level with Percy's now. A lot has changed from their first meeting. Nico's heart still tugs the same way it did when he was ten and Percy looked at him with a smile like the one he has now but they've been through so much -- they've literally been to hell and back -- and look they're the same height now. 

"I'm not going away forever, Nico," Percy says. 

Nico tries to step away, "I know that," but Percy pulls him against his chest, his other arm curving around his waist. "Stop being so moody then and tell me you'll miss me properly."

"I'm not going to miss you one bit," Nico says into Percy's sleeve and it's embarrassing how much the truth bleeds through. "I'm gonna build tonnes of cool stuff with Leo and Frank said he knows some stuff about Mythomagic, and --"

"I get it," Percy laughs, "I get it. You've got too many friends you won't even notice I'm gone." 

Nico's fingers dig into Percy's waist, right where his jeans start. "Right."

Silence stretches out between them, Percy's breath in Nico's ear and Nico's heart thumping so loud. Percy sways them, holds on like he's going to miss this too, like he's not the one _leaving_. 

"Where are you even going?" 

"That would be telling," Percy says in that insufferable way of his that makes everyone want to punch him and ruffle his hair at the same time. He beats Nico's response with, "It's not like I can fly anywhere so I'm sticking to America for the moment."

"Oh." That's not as far as Nico thought. He was expecting month long stays in India, weeks of surfing in Australia. The knot in his stomach begins to unfurl slowly. 

"I'll send you a postcard every place I stop, how about that?" He steps away from Nico as he warms up to the idea. "Yeah it'll be so cool, a tracking thing. I'll be your soldier away at war." 

"Shut up," Nico mumbles, ducking his head. He drags the toe of his sneaker along the grass, lifting his head to watch Mrs O'Leary pounce on a group of Hermes demigods. A couple flop out from under her ears, pretending to dramatically crawl out from danger. The bloodhound licks the escapees enthusiastically, their squawks audible from forty feet. He turns back to Percy who's watching him with his head tilted, his expression one Nico's only seen a couple of times -- hesitant, like maybe this time he really has said the wrong thing with no way to get out of it. "You'd do that?" 

"Sure," Percy shrugs because nothing is ever a big deal, not even battling a couple of giants or -- well, the list of achievements is endless for Percy Jackson isn't it. "It'll be fun." 

"When do you leave?" 

"Half an hour. You're my last stop." 

"And you're going by yourself? No Anna --"

"Annabeth is at Camp Jupiter," Percy cuts across him and his jaw is clenched in a way that shouldn't give Nico a swoop of happiness low in his stomach but it does and he has to school his voice into something less light. 

"Oh. So that's...?"

"Yeah you would think Tartarus together might strengthen the bond, right?" This trip isn't as spontaneous and meaningless as _finding himself_ as Percy wants everyone to think, Nico realises then, and all he can do is jerk his head in a midway reply because he has no experience here at all, no advice to offer. Percy is shaking his head like he can shake Annabeth right out of his brain, his eyes far away, and maybe Nico gets it a little more now, feels a little less bitter at Percy running off and leaving him, because he did the same thing once upon a time when he realised that maybe all this adoration and clamour to be near Percy wasn't exactly _normal_ and that oh, it should be dealt with the way his father had been teaching him: cutting himself from the source quickly and somewhat painlessly. 

"Have a good trip," Nico says, the words only a little forced, his mouth even trying for some ghost of a smile. Percy's lips bend into a better attempt, his stance relaxing. "Traitor." 

"I told the Stoll brothers to look out for you," Percy throws out, pulling Nico against him again quickly before Nico can protest to all counts because h _e's not a child he's seventeen years old he's the son of_ hades _he doesn't need protection_ and this might be the last time he smells the salt clinging to Percy, the sea lingering on his clothes, his hair, his skin, and so he hugs back for a beat and then steps away, whistling for Mrs O'Leary. "Just -- try not to die, alright?" he says over his shoulder. 

"I never _try_ , Nico," Percy says with a put-upon sigh. "See you around, di Angelo!" 

"Don't ever fall in love," Nico tells Mrs O'Leary sternly. She knocks out a stray Ares kid with her tail which Nico takes as a promise.

 

.

 

20 days later 

The first one comes just as Nico has passed the whole deal off as a whim, that maybe Percy was not really intending to go through with it and just appeasing Nico before he left on his big trip of freedom. He even stops checking the little box in the mail room. He's never had anything in there before; there's no one outside of this Camp to write to him, Hazel usually Iris-messages him and his dad waits until whenever he goes down to the Underworld to say whatever he feels like saying to him, and that's it. The empty mailbox every day after a promise of mail is slightly disheartening and so the activity is discontinued. 

He's down by the beach when Connor Stoll taps him on the head with the edge of a something sharp and sings, "Delivery for a Mr Nico di Angelo!"

Nico's not dressed for the beach; the ends of his jeans are getting covered in sand, his jacket is going to stink of seaweed for the next week, and when he turns to face Connor the sun is blinding. He should have brought sunglasses. "What?" 

"You know, I heard Italians were supposed to be charming," Connor says, flopping onto the sand. 

"That'll teach you to stereotype." It's warmer than he thought. He might have to take his jacket off. Connor's in a t-shirt and shorts; that's Hermes' kids for you. "What have you got?" 

It's a postcard. A small rectangle with a bright design on one side and scribbled writing on the other. "Postcard," Connor says like it's obvious. "From Percy." 

"Have you been going through my mail?" The _one day_ he didn't check his box. There's a saying for that that Annabeth had mentioned once but he can't remember it now, now all he can focus on is the card in Conner's hands, everything it might say. "That's a felony, I think." 

"What do you know about felonies, kid?" Connor laughs, ducking away from Nico's glare and protest of _I'm seventeen, Stoll_. "Relax. I didn't read it; I'm just the messenger." He pauses and Nico knows what's coming. "Geddit? Hermes? God of messengers?" 

"I got it, Stoll, thanks for the explanation." Nico wants to reach out and take the card but Connor is still talking, saying something about the sun and Capture the Flag later if Nico wants on their team. "Do you think I could get it now?" he says finally. 

Connor stops mid-sentence, showing no signs that he heard Nico. He tilts his head to the sky, his eyes sliding closed. Nico remembers how he felt when he first noticed Percy, how maybe he wanted to be more than just his friend or ally, when he took note of the muscles in his arms and back and the way he smiled that made Nico's stomach swoop like he had just missed a step walking down stairs. He remembers thinking that it's okay because it's just Percy he feels this way about, that doesn't make him _gay_ , it's only Percy and _every_ one’s attracted to Percy, but here's Connor stretched out beside him all tanned skin and long limbs and Nico wants to reach out and _touch --_ not for the first time, he realises suddenly, his mind filing through the times Connor had been decent to him, looking out for him during war games and inviting him in on pranks and there was that time he had fallen in the lake and  had taken his wet shirt off and Nico hadn't looked away. He blinks and looks away now, his mouth dry, and it's so hot down here at the beach. He should have stayed in his cabin. 

But Connor finally hands over the postcard, saying something about it ending up in the main tray instead of the Hades one and it had fallen to the side for a few days before it had been spotted on the floor so sorry it’s late, don’t shoot the messenger. Nico turns it over eagerly, ignoring the picture on the front in favour of whatever Percy has to say.

_nico! hey! i’m not in d.c anymore ha but i bought it there so it counts, right? i kept forgetting to buy a pen until a shitty gas station in kentucky had them beside the counter for 50 cents. it’s got a chick with her boobs out on it. her face looks a bit like piper’s actually (don’t tell anyone i said that!!!) are you missing me? are you crying? how many times have you kicked frank’s ass at mythomagic? heading to missouri next. google tells me there’s a thing called ride the ducks. if it’s in water i’m there. see ya, percy_

It’s dated eight days ago, the stamp an eagle bordered with gold, and when Nico flips it over he recognises the White House from the TV at Percy’s. He traces over the roof, pressing his finger to the flag.

“What’s our hero saying?” Connor looks asleep lying on the sand beside Nico, his arm stretched behind his head. It doesn’t hit Nico until later that this is the most still he has seen him and the longest he’s seen him without Travis. “How many monsters has he killed?”

“None yet,” Nico says, reading the message again. _see ya, percy_.

“It’s only a matter of time, right,” Connor laughs and Nico wonders what everyone really thinks about all of this, of all of Percy’s -- _all of ours, Nico_ \-- saving the world. “Where is he?”

“Kentucky.”

"Cool." And it's left at that.

Nico leaves Connor by the beach half an hour later. He trudges back through the heat to Cabin 13 and finds a pin stuck beside the door like it has been waiting around for a purpose. He sticks the postcard on the wall beside his bed, allowing himself to smile at the thought of Percy crouched over the hood of a bent up car on a long stretch of road scribbling down whatever came to me. _are you missing me?_ Nico doesn't know how truthfully to answer that even to himself. His heart is tired and his eyes still look for Percy when he first steps out of his cabin every morning and how do you put the way his blood feels like water, controlled by the son of a sea god halfway across the country, into words.

 

.

 

24 days later

The next one comes only four days after the first after time delays and wrong trays and this time Nico gets it himself from his little black mailbox. It's as satisfying and comforting as he expected, seeing the little arrow sticking up and taking out the mail sent specifically to him. He takes it back to his cabin to read, crawling to sit cross-legged in the middle of his bed, his shoes kicked off at the door.

_it's so warm in arkansas. seriously, a man told me this is the hottest it's been in 500 years but then he ate some chewing gum off of the sidewalk so i don't know how reliable he is. you would have to take your jacket off, THAT'S how warm it is. the duck ride thing was a disappointment. just a fucking boat. if you ever go to missouri, don't go on it, you wouldn't like it. i don't think you would like missouri at all, actually, just a load of farms. remember that time... maneating horses, dude, how did we escape? how's camp? has mrs o'leary let you sit on her yet? i've wanted to do that for ages. tell me how it goes! percy_

_p.s fought a couple of harpies yesterday. nosy things kept asking about you. you've got fans, di angelo_  

This time the front has a bridge that must be significant in some way. He can see Percy grabbing the first one he sees, groaning when he looks at it back in the car and it's a stupid bridge.

He'll need to ask around for another pin so he sits the postcard on his pillow and then curls up and shuts his eyes. He had sword practice this morning which he had managed to avoid for weeks -- he doesn't need practice, he can manage just fine on his own and on the rare occasions he can't he has a whole army of dead people he can drag up to do it for him. But Chiron had found him on his way to the arena and there's something about him, his four legs maybe, that makes Nico feel guilty and pushes him into doing what he says. Anyway, sword practice is _exhausting_. His first partner had been a girl from the Iris cabin who was so scared of Nico she had swung her sword in any direction in the hope of keeping him away from her. And his arm is still throbbing from the Apollo kid who, in an act of defiance over not being allowed arrows, had simply slammed his hilt to Nico's shoulder, smirking when Nico had yelled out.

There's still the prejudice there, the fear and anger at a child of Hades palpable when Nico skirts the various cliques on his way to the beach or the arena. He doesn't mind it really -- he doesn't sit and _cry_ about it -- but he had thought it might be different now, after everything he did with the Seven Heroes. Hades has told him from day one that they have never been accepted and never will be and it's foolish to believe otherwise. Nico's always liked to cling onto that sliver of hope that Percy Jackson brings. It's going to cause his death one day.

 

.

 

35 days later

The thing with being a demigod, no matter who your godly parent is, is that groups of more than three outside of camp bring unwanted attention. Sometimes they don't want to show off the skills they've been honing for weeks in a fight with a monster that will leave them with blood running down their leg. Sometimes they just want to go to the cinema in the city with some friends.

Katie Gardener from the Demeter cabin has a twisted ankle because a gorgon just couldn't wait half an hour before crashing down in front of them in the middle of Manhatten. Out of the four of them she had the quickest reaction, slashing it across the middle before the rest of them had time blink. Katie's always been decent to him after Connor and Travis finally succeeded in pulling him into their group a couple of weeks ago. She throws out one liners that take a minute to sink in before the Stoll brothers are rolling on the floor and Nico laughs into his sleeve and she makes these organic cookies that Nico is sure is what heaven is made of and she tells Nico that she used to have a brother but he's gone now so she understands to an extent, a hand running over his hair in a gesture of compassion Nico can handle. He likes Katie, likes the pranks she pulls him aside to whisper that are good enough to rival the Stolls and he likes the way she smells, sort of earthy and sweet and completely different from the bitter cloying scent of Persephone. Nico's friends grow by one. He needs two hands to count them now.

Travis says there's no point in them all going back and wasting a trip so he takes Katie back to camp in the car and Connor can shadow-travel with Nico after the movie. The movie's one about zombies and blood and Nico's not seen a lot of movies but this one sounds like it might be right up his street so he shrugs and follows Connor down the street away from the others.

It's just him and Connor now and Connor pays for the tickets before Nico can jump in with his son of the god of wealth line and somewhere in the back of his mind this outing re-labels itself as date. He scratches the new label off and shoves his hands in his pockets, trying not to smile when Connor pickpockets the man in front of them in the queue, removing a wad of cash from his wallet and then slipping it back in time for the man to reach for his pocket.

They slip into the already dark room and Connor leads them up the stairs to the very back row in the corner. The room's not that full but Nico's not been to the cinema before so maybe this is where the best view is. Connor leans back and props his feet on the seat in front, giggling when the girl in the seat gives a yelp of surprise and shoves his shoes onto the next one. Nico watches the easy way Connor interacts with everyone, even with Nico who has been treating this whole friendship with one foot out the door in case it turns out to be some elaborate prank, and thinks he's a bit like Percy that way, flirting and making everyone blush without meaning to. The similarities end there really because Connor is here and Percy is not and Nico's heart is working on what to do with that.

"Take your jacket off, Angelo," Connor says, louder than a whisper because Nico has discovered he likes to be heard. "It's the middle of July, gods, are you not melting?"

"Cold heart," Nico says, baring his teeth, but he slips his jacket off and rests his arm on the armrest beside Connor's, not noticing when they touch, tan contrasting with pale.

It turns out that hey, zombie movies maybe aren't Nico's thing after all. Connor only laughs a little when Nico stands abruptly during a particularly bloody scene and waits outside, his head back against the wall of the cafe next door, until Connor comes out ten minutes later.

When he shuts the door to his cabin that night he leans against it for a moment, his hands flat on the wood and his t-shirt bunched up at the back, and runs over the whole day in his head, smiling when he counts the times he can remember laughing and he runs out of fingers. Percy leaving had left Nico with a knot in his stomach and another hole opening beside the one shaped like his sister but maybe now the knot is unravelling a little, the hole pausing in its growth. He doesn’t want to think too much about this, he’s not going to obsess over it because that always ends badly, but he unfolds the cinema ticket and places it on the stand beside his bed and he goes to sleep with something close to a smile on his face.

He forgets to check his mailbox.

 

.

 

( _nico! nico di angelo! how ya doing? is mr d still calling you nicky? i’m in chicago, the windy city! i think i’m going to stay here a week or two. the water’s good and i met a couple of other demigods who have let me stay in their apartment if i keep their water from getting turned off. there’s a huge arcade here with all those video games you played in the lotus hotel. maybe when i get back i’ll challenge you and see who’s the real champion._ )

 

.

 

37 days later

“What do you mean you haven’t really watched movies?” Connor squawks. He drops a handful of strawberries into his basket. Nico swipes one when he isn’t looking.

“Well,” he chews slowly. “I was in a hotel for 70 years and I haven’t exactly had free time to catch up.”

“You haven’t been in any life or death situations for a few weeks now,” Connor points out, plucking a strawberry from the tallest plant and biting into it. His tongue darts out to catch the juice running down his chin. Nico looks away. He’s still -- he’s not sure. Percy’s last postcard said he was staying in Chicago for a while, that he’d made some friends, and Nico’s not going to sit and wait around for him anyway. It’s not like that. “Let me give you a movication.”

“A what?” He thinks he’s right to be wary here.

“Movie education,” Connor says slowly, a grin spreading across his face.  “I’m gonna introduce you to the world of film and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Sounds painful,” Nico says. He grabs a bunch of strawberries and throws them into his considerably emptier basket. Hey, he's a growing boy. “How are we going to watch them? The only TV is in the Big House.”

Connor looks at him, wounded. "You're talking to the co-head counsellor of the Hermes cabin, Nico. I'm insulted."

The end up of it is that Connor has a stolen laptop, a stack of stolen DVDs, and the ability to hack Mr D's Netflix. "We have the world at our feet," Connor says proudly, elbowing Nico in the ribs as he shuffles around the bed, maneuvering the laptop so they can both see. They're in Nico's cabin, it's the only place in camp with any form of peace.

“Alright, so we’re starting with Forrest Gump. You have heard of Forrest Gump, haven’t you?” He narrows his eyes at Nico, sighing heavily when Nico shakes his head. “What have you been doing? Forrest Gump!”

“Stop making me feel guilty.” Nico kicks at Connor’s knee, settling further into the bed as a feather floats across the screen. It's easy with Connor, less feelings of terror and confusion, his heart not beating so fast when Connor huffs a laugh at something on the screen and it hits Nico's cheek like a whisper. He's comfortable with him after a few weeks with what took over a year with Percy. Death tends to mess things up. As do fathers.

They watch Citizen Kane next which Connor says tops all the lists for best film ever made but he doesn't really see the appeal. Nico agrees; he finds he enjoys The Dark Knight Rises trilogy a thousand times more, the painful empathy towards the characters overshadowed by his awe of Bruce Wayne's alter ego. His favourite so far, though, is Clash of the Titans because it's funny seeing humans interpret their world. Hades isn't exactly as bad as they make him out to be, not that Nico is biased or anything.

"We're starting Disney tonight," Connor says a couple of weeks later at dinner.

"Disney's for kids," Nico argues, chewing on too many fries. That's another great thing about Camp: he can eat exactly what he likes, however unhealthy it may be.

"There's one where your dad has a blue flame for his head," Connor says, waggling his eyebrows in what Nico imagines he feels is an enticing gesture. It half works. "Come on."

 

.

 

The postcards stop for a couple of weeks. Nico assumes this means Percy is still in Chicago.

 

.

 

46 days later

 

_i'm on the road again, di angelo! heading over to south dakota, hopefully, this map has been through a lot over the last few weeks, i need a navigator. how's mrs o'leary doing? i miss her. i miss you, too, nico, don't get jealous now. it'd be good if these messages could go to two-ways, wouldn't it? never get the answers to the questions i'm asking. i'm writing this at the side of the most boring stretch of road i've ever seen, fingers crossed i don't fall asleep at the wheel_

_hope i survive to send you your next postcard_

_percy x_

 

.

 

Nico leans up and kisses Connor, pressing his smile onto his lips. Connor doesn't freeze or hesitate or push Nico away, he opens his mouth and kisses back, his lips soft and pliant against Nico's. It's not his first kiss, that happened a couple of years ago at a Fourth of July party with Leo of all people but it's the first one he's really aware of, his eyes closing to allow the feeling to wash over him.

But that's the thing, there isn't really anything there. It's like kissing Leo all over again only this time the person is a bit taller and smells less of oil. He doesn't know much but he knows it should be more than this.

"You love him," Connor says quietly, his eyes on the screen. "Don't you."

It's funny, in the way where it's isn't funny at all, the way Nico's heart skips, like something out of these romantic comedies, where just the vaguest mention of Percy makes his cheeks flush. Nico hasn't seen Percy in 107 days and the fact that the number comes to him so quickly is answer enough that yes he still loves him, yes he misses him so much it hurts sometimes, yes he wants all the things he always has. But he knows he wants Connor too, _likes_ Connor, likes this easy casual thing they have that he doesn't really want to talk about in case it ruins it. He pulls at a thread coming loose on Connor's bed, wrapping it around his finger three times and tugging until it stings. "Yes."

"I've got to go," Nico says, spinning away from Connor, from the bed with the mountain of DVDs stacked up between them. "I need to --"

Connor sits up, concern clear on his face. "Nico? Are you alright? I didn't mean anything by that, it's fine if you do --"

But Nico has always called this thing, these feelings, a crush, nothing less nothing _more_ , as though that will make it easier to handle, to explain away. And now Connor has thrown love in there and it fits just right. Percy's last postcard had been different, the x at the end, the mentions of missing and replies, and maybe this is Nico delusionally reading too much between the lines or maybe --

He feels sick but he knows what he has to do, where he has to go.

"I'll be back, Connor. I just need to go see someone," and then he spins on the spot, thinking desperately of Percy and the squiggles of his pen across the country in South Dakota.

He thinks of Percy and hopes that'll be enough to get him there but when he comes tripping out of the shadows he's beside a row  of run-down shops, the smell of bacon strong in the air, and Percy nowhere in sight. Following the bacon is the next best option so he sets off, walking quickly to match the way his heart is still thump thump thumping.

 _Love_.

It seems a huge word, an emotion too big to fit inside of him, to apply to Percy Jackson. But it feels right, too, he thinks. That maybe he really does love Percy. It's been years since they first met and Nico had fallen head first in obsession, the feeling growing into dislike, betrayal, helplessness and back again. Yeah. The word still makes him feel sick in his stomach but he's sure it's the right one.

There's a diner round the corner across from a fountain that is weakly pumping out water, fitting in with the tired theme. Nico walks in before he can second guess himself and there he is at the table in the top corner, a plate of pancakes and a map spread out in front of him.

Nico takes a breath, breathes in the overwhelming smell of bacon, and makes his way over, not having to be careful about being quiet, it's second nature to him now. He slides into the seat across from Percy. "Hi."

It's funny, the way Percy jumps, swearing when his water spills into his pancakes. Gods, what if Nico had been a monster? "You can't let your guard down like that, Percy."

"I've got my eyes on the doors. I didn't expect -- what the hell, Nico?"

"You said you needed a navigator."

Percy smiles now, fond and big, and Nico feels himself relax now he knows he won't be turned away. "Gods, Nico."

"So I can come?" He remembers suddenly that this was supposed to be a trip to let Percy unwind after everything, to put himself back together, and Nico might not exactly be the person to follow along on such a trip.

But he gets a nod. "Yeah. Of course. Did you tell anyone you left, you didn't just run away did you?"

"Who made you so sensible?" Nico tears off a slice of pancake that isn't swimming in water, chewing it slowly. He hasn't eaten all day he realises as he steals another piece. Percy is watching him with narrowed eyes, thinking, before he sighs and pushes the rest of his plate over.

"I'm always sensible," he says, which is enough of a lie to make Nico snort, only just missing out on choking on a bite. "I _am_. All of those times I disappeared were against my own will and therefore I can't be held responsible."

"Sure, whatever." Nico can feel himself smiling slightly and instead of hiding it like he usually would he lets Percy see. "I told Connor so you can stop worrying about Chiron killing you."

"I'm Chiron's favourite," Percy says absentmindedly before getting to his feet, the map folded clumsily. "Come on, then. You've thrown my schedule off."

"You were going to sit there for at least another half hour," Nico argues on the way out to the car. It's one of those beat-up trucks that looks like it has seen better days but could probably still survive another couple of world wars. The handle on the passenger side is stiff; he tugs at it a couple of times before it gives, allowing him to climb in beside Percy.

"No one's really used that door," he gets told unnecessarily. Nico kicks an empty plastic cup away from his feet. "Make yourself at home why don't you."

"Where are you going next?"

"You tell me." Percy flips down his sunglasses, winking before his eyes are hidden behind the black. "You're the one with the map," and with that he tosses the crumpled mess into Nico's lap. "Where to?"

The map is crinkly with too many lines crossing each and every way -- there's a coffee stain covering the East Coast, an unidentifiable substance blotting out Hawaii. Nico folds it one way and then another until he's managed to crop it down to the cluster of states they're surrounded by. "North Dakota? Have you been there?"

"Nope." The engine starts with a shuddering groan that has Nico wondering how much further they'll actually get. "Let's go."

Half an hour ago Nico had been in his cabin with Connor Stoll watching a film about princesses and frogs and now here he is in a truck with Percy, moving slowly out of a deserted town and onto the road that looks so wide and open in front of them.

 

.

 

It turns out Percy lives by the rule of 'driver picks the music' so Nico spends the first hour of the drive complaining about the twangy country songs that compare love to a crowded room and ignoring the _i'm a little bit country and you're a little bit rock n roll_ comments Percy sings at him. When Percy finally lets him choose a song he scoops up the iPod sitting in between them eagerly and scrolls through Percy's playlists, looking for matches in their tastes. He puts on Walk the Moon -- a grin pulling at his lips when Percy whoops, his arm resting along the open window and his singing loud above the worrying cranking of the engine.

 

.

 

.

 

Monsters find them in Colorado. They run down the crowded city streets, darting in between the happy mortals who are oblivious to the hairy, scary creatures living behind the Mist. A look over his shoulder every few seconds tells Nico that they're losing them slowly, a few more people filling the distance between them and the monsters each time. His breathing is growing shallower; a couple of half-hearted sessions of sword-fighting aren't the best exercise for long-distance running, who knew?

"Nico! This way!" Percy has a good track record with getting away from monsters without dying - Nico follows. "Down here."

It's a dark alley, one that seems to swallow up light and sound the further they make their way into it. "Percy?"

"Shh," and oh. Percy is right there. Nico takes a step backward, working on getting his breathing back into control, glad to hear Percy's isn't much better. "They're coming."

"Shit. Where are we supposed to go from here?"

"Nico, do you trust me?" Percy sounds different, the cautious tone one Nico's only heard a handful of times and never applied to him.

He can hear the cackles of the monsters coming closer, they must be at the opening now. His answer is instinctive. "What - yeah, why?"

And then Percy is pushing Nico back against the brick wall, following him so their bodies are flush, and before Nico can take stock of this moment for a later examination Percy leans in and kisses him.

He really goes for it, too, his tongue fast and deep in Nico's mouth, his hands moving everywhere, desperate to feel every bit of Nico. Nico moves past stunned and into action, reciprocating just as enthusiastically. That's when Percy moans, so loud, right into Nico's mouth, his hands still in his hair, on his waist. He moans like this is a show; it all clicks into place then. Right.

There's a rustle of wind that passes Nico by, the chattering of things inhuman moving past them as Percy moves in even closer, his arms now bracketing Nico's head. Nico doesn't know how he's going to act like this is nothing to him when it's over. Instead he kisses back more and more, hugging this moment for all its worth, his one and only time to know what Percy kisses like.

 

.

 

The water shimmers under the full moon, flashes of dark blue, a brilliant green, catching Nico's eye. He stands where the ocean licks the sand, moving accordingly with the shifting tide line.

"I've never swam in the ocean before."

"Never?" The way Percy says it is like it's the hardest thing to believe; maybe to Percy, the son of the sea god, it is, but swimming has never been an interest to Nico, in any body of water. "Well you have to try it now!"

There's a handful of excuses ready in his head but Nico says instead, "I kissed Connor," he says into the black water.

“Stoll?”

“Yeah.”

Percy keeps quiet, holds his thoughts inside his head where Nico can't reach, and then he dips his hand into the water, ripples bursting from his touch. Nico has spent all this time with Percy but he's no closer to reading the movements of water than Percy can wake the dead and he thinks that that's maybe okay, given the circumstances and all the uncertainties cluttering his heart. "Get in the water," Percy says again, tone cajoling, all too light. 

Nico rolls up his jeans, takes off his shoes, and lets the water pulse around his toes. 

 


End file.
